Happy New Year

we kept new years low key this year...Josh loved the cookie cake and noise makers I picked up last minute.

Museum of Science and Industry

We went downtown today to check out the museum of science and industry, and apparently all the families in Chicago...I couldn't believe how many people were in line even as we were leaving...I guess that's what happens during the week when everyone is out of school/work.

The ships

 Circus - Funny mirrors

 Energy Exhibit

 The Farm Exhibit

 Baby Chicks

 The Train exhibit

Holiday happenings

Josh's winnings from playing dreidel

this isn't the first hot chocolate of the season, but the best by far!

Ice Skating

We took Josh ice skating for the first time

I couldn't believe they made skates small enough for  him!

walking around to get used to the skates

The New Nursery Reveal

we changed the doorknob and took out all the monkey stickers

butterfly theme, new pink changing table cover

new chair cover that I sewed and pink stripes that Jared painted

 

butterfly mobile

first doll

closet with butterfly pulls

inside closet

her first Vera Bradley bag - a diaper bag.

First Real Snowfall

Madden came over with his sled and the boys got to play around in the snow.

Then they walked over to the retention pod and slid down the little hill.

a little MIA

I haven't posted in a little while...we were in Dallas for Thanksgiving and got out of the habit of posting.  Jared and I travelled to Austin for an evening alone - the first time since Josh has been born.  We stayed downtown and enjoyed some Rudy's BBQ on the way.  walked around town, missed out on a river tour due to my misreading the website, but we did get to check out 6th streelt.  Drinks at the  Driskill before dinner at Bess Bistro.  We enjoyed breakfast at the Old Pecan Street Cafe - just delicious french toast!  We tried to do a segway tour, but were denied since I'm pregnant.  

We had a family picture taken, ran the Turkey Trot and generally just enjoyed family time.

We checked out the Wonderland Express at the Botanic Gardens.

When we got back, we met Aidan and Sara at Jumps and Jiggles.

Josh and Aidan at the Jumps and Jiggles Carosel

The Brookfield Zoo has an event where they put up a lot of lights to see after night falls.  We would have stayed longer, but it was very cold.

the best family picture we could get at the zoo.

Josh's Big Boy Room

It's time for the Final Reveal...we've teased you with several before and afters along the way...

before we knew we were expecting/started converting his room, this "Blue Room" we used mostly for storage!

all cleared out

big boy bed

Bed dressed in sports themed bedding

the closet before

and during "Construction"

after, with more shelving, drawers and double the closet rod space...plenty of room for him to grow and get more clothes!

the desk and chair, for work or art projects during quiet time

the new blinds

The final decorative touches

baseball knobs on the closet doors

sports themed decals on the wall..easily removed or re-positioned as preferences change

Bean Bag chair for reading quietly

Bookshelf with a lot of room to grow, or borrow from the library

Josh's name welcoming him in.

We hope he'll like it for years to come...he "helped" with most of the construction projects and even over-ruled me for where his name should go on the wall!  Even though the walls are two different shades of blue and the CARPET is blue too, we found that once we picked the bedding, we didn't really need to change the paint color, so luckily that was a big step we never had to take!  Now, on to updating the nursery...we only have about 9 more weeks until she arrives